


Imagery

by breadjin



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-02-08 13:53:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18624580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breadjin/pseuds/breadjin
Summary: They’re in college and gay idk what else to say





	1. Chapter 1

   Haseul was so cute it was unbearable. Everything from the way she walked to the way she scrunched her nose before she sneezed was adorable. Sooyoung had avoided her like the plague, going out of her way to stand on the other side of the room or excuse herself from any social situations when she was involved. Sooyoung heard from Jungeun that Haseul was convinced she hated her, and she figured it was better that way. Less of a chance of making a fool of herself. That is, until today.

 

   “Alright, everyone, draw a stick,” the professor called out, holding out a fist with several white sticks coming out of the top. “Whoever has a stick the same length as yours is your partner for today.”

 

   After a few grumbles and groans, everyone in the class was abuzz with comparing straws to find their partners. Sooyoung found Jungeun first, but no match.

 

   “Fuck,” Jungeun said. “I don’t like anyone else in this class.”

 

   “You like Vivi,” Sooyoung said, pointing at a petite brunette nodding along as she listened to another classmate’s story.

 

   “As if I could talk to Vivi,” Jungeun scoffed. “She’s, like, untouchable. Everyone likes her.”

 

   At that moment, Jinsoul was making her way to Jungeun and Sooyoung, holding her stick out in front of her. They silently compared lengths and Jinsoul groaned at the sight of her stick matching Jungeun’s exactly.

 

   “I guess we’re stuck together,” Jungeun grumbled.

 

   Jinsoul rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as she stood beside her. Sooyoung looked at her own stick and scanned the room. Nearly everyone had found their match, except…

 

   “Shit,” Sooyoung whispered to herself.

 

   On the other side of the room, behind a couple that had schmoozed matching sticks off of other people to match with each other, stood a short-haired, brown-eyed life-ruiner looking lost and confused at her own stick. Sooyoung closed her eyes for a brief moment and took a deep breath to prepare herself. She walked over to Haseul, whose eyes widened the closer she got, and flashed a weak smile.

 

   “It looks like we’re the only ones left,” Sooyoung said as she held up her stick.

 

    Haseul held up her stick to Sooyoung’s and, as expected, they lined up perfectly. Sooyoung saw Haseul swallow down a lump in her throat as she tried to smile back. She turned to the front of the room when the professor spoke up above the others.

 

   “Now that everyone has their partners, here’s your assignment,” he said. “Each pair will choose a subject and take photos of it in different lighting arrangements. The subject can be anything — people, things, places, whatever you want. Just make sure you take photos of it from different angles and with different lighting. This is to help you identify and understand how lighting can affect the mood and story of your photography. You have one week to work together and present a portfolio of at least 10 of your best photographs. Any questions?”

 

   Jungeun was the only one to raise her hand.

 

   “No, you cannot submit nude photography,” the professor said with a sigh.

 

   Jungeun put her hand down and pouted.

 

   “If there is nothing else, class is dismissed.”

 

   The room erupted with sound again from students packing their things and talking amongst themselves. Sooyoung turned to Haseul, who was slipping her notebook into a small backpack.

 

    “So, uh... “ Sooyoung said, unsure of how to proceed. “Should we figure out a time to meet up?”

 

    “Yeah,” Haseul said as she zipped up her backpack. “Here, give me your phone number.”

 

    Haseul pulled her phone out from her back pocket and opened up a new contact screen. She handed it to Sooyoung who took it quickly, trying to hide her shaky hands as much as possible. She held the phone with an iron grip, typing as quickly as she could, but still making several mistakes. When she finally managed to set up the information, she drop called herself to get Haseul’s number as well.

 

    “There you go,” Sooyoung said, holding the phone out to Haseul.

 

    “Thanks,” Haseul replied as she stuffed it back into her pocket. “I’ll see you around?”

 

    “Yeah,” Sooyoung said and hurried out of the room to join Jungeun outside.

 

    Sooyoung could see Jungeun smirking deviously and did her best to ignore it and keep looking straight ahead, until she felt a jab in the side as they walked.

 

   “You got her number,” Jungeun said when Sooyoung looked over.

 

   Sooyoung rolled her eyes and walked faster, but Jungeun just ran ahead and walked backwards in front of her. She wiggled her eyebrows ceaselessly until Sooyoung stuck her foot out behind one of Jungeun’s legs, causing her to trip and nearly fall.

 

   “You should be thanking Professor Lee,” Jungeun said. “He basically created this project for you two to meet. Now you _have_ to talk to her and not _run away_ from her, which I don’t understand why you do in the first place.”

 

   “I don’t run away from her, I just…” Sooyoung paused, trying to think of an excuse. “Don’t want to bother her.”

 

    “She’s not a scary person, Sooyoung. She’s just a regular girl like you and me.”

 

    “No,” Sooyoung said. “She’s beyond regular. She’s... “

 

    Sooyoung sighed wistfully, looking down at the ground as she walked. She didn’t have the words to describe Haseul. How do you describe perfection?

 

    “You’re pathetic, dude,” Jungeun said with a groan.

 

    Sooyoung shoved her shoulder as they parted ways for their next classes.

 

**

 

    That night, Sooyoung arrived home and threw her bag onto the couch on her way to the kitchen, where her mother was chopping vegetables for dinner.

 

    “Need any help?” Sooyoung asked.

 

    “No, I’m almost finished here,” her mother replied. “How were your classes?”

 

    “Fine, I have a new project in photography and a maths test in a couple of days.”

 

    “Study hard, I know you’ll do well.”

 

    “Thanks, mom,” Sooyoung said as she looked around.

 

    “Is Yerim home?” she asked.

 

    “Yes, she should be up in her room,” her mother replied as she dropped the vegetables into a pan. “Will you go tell her wash up? Dinner will be ready soon.”

 

    Sooyoung nodded and went up the stairs to Yerim’s room, stopping in the living room on the way to grab her bag. Yerim’s door was locked, as usual, so she knocked a few times to get her attention. The door swung open and Yerim looked up at Sooyoung, annoyed.

 

    “What?” Yerim asked.

 

    “Dinner’s almost ready, mom said to wash up and head downstairs,” Sooyoung said.

 

    “Okay,” Yerim replied before shutting the door in her face and locking the door again.

 

    Sooyoung shook her head and headed to her room. Yerim used to be a ball of sunshine and rainbows, but ever since she turned 15 she’d just been a huge brat. She hardly left her room unless she had to, and never wanted to leave the house for family outings. It was a long-winded battle every time they wanted to go out to dinner, and sometimes they fought so long they didn’t go out at all. Sooyoung wasn’t sure what had gotten into her, but she also didn’t try to push it either.

 

    Sooyoung felt her pocket vibrate and she pulled out her phone to find a text from Haseul.

 

    **_Haseul:_** _Hey! Are you free tomorrow afternoon to work on the project?_

 

Sooyoung felt her body tense up slightly at the thought of hanging out with her alone. She cursed at herself for letting something so simple affect her.

 

    **_Sooyoung:_** _Sure! I get out of my last class at 2:00. Does that work?_

 

**_Haseul:_ ** _Works for me! See you then!_

 

“Sooyoung, let’s go!” Yerim shouted from the doorway.

 

    Sooyoung jumped at the sound, but she threw her phone onto the bed and headed downstairs to eat.

 

******

“So what’s your game plan?” Jungeun asked.

 

    “My what?” Sooyoung replied.

 

    “Your game plan. How are you going to woo Haseul while you work on this project together?”

 

    “There is no game plan. I’m going to do the project with her, get an A, and we move on with our lives without talking or looking at each other like we did before.”

 

    Jungeun looked at Sooyoung with half-lidded eyes and her lips pressed together, annoyance spread across her face. Sooyoung simply shrugged back. She was serious.

 

    “You don’t think you guys might just, I don’t know, become friends through this?” Jungeun asked.

 

    Sooyoung looked away, considering the possibility. She assumed Haseul was probably a nice enough person, but just the thought of being around her made Sooyoung so nervous, she could never see putting herself through it on a regular basis. The truth would come out and everything would fall to shambles.

 

    “Nope, can’t see it,” Sooyoung decided.

 

    “Well, get it together for now, because she’s walking over here,” Jungeun said, pointing away from where they sat.

 

    Sooyoung searched and saw Haseul’s petite figure making its way toward their table. They had decided to meet in the patio outside the student center at 2:30, which had come much sooner than Sooyoung anticipated. Jungeun tapped her on the shoulder and gave a thumbs up before darting off in the opposite direction. Haseul made eye contact and waved, but Sooyoung pretended not to see and looked down at her notebook instead. It wasn’t until Haseul was sitting across from her that Sooyoung even acknowledged her presence.

 

    “Hey,” Haseul said brightly.

 

    “Hey,” Sooyoung replied. “H-how are you?”

 

    “Tired,” Haseul said with a sigh. “But good. How are you?”

 

    “I’m okay.”

 

    “Okay, so have you thought about what our subject should be?”

 

    “A little. I was thinking we could do like a piece of fruit and maybe within the photos show the passage of time by letting it start to rot?”

 

    Haseul nodded and wrote the idea down in her notebook. Her handwriting was bubbly and neat, completely unlike Sooyoung’s rushed and slanted cursive. Sooyoung noticed the way her fingers curved around her pen in the way her kindergarten teacher told her was the “correct” way to write.

 

    “That would be an interesting idea,” Haseul said. “I was thinking maybe a human subject might be a good way to showcase how different lighting can display different emotions, even if the face is the same.”

 

    “That sounds good, too. I think we should do that.”

 

    Haseul had started to write down her idea, but stopped at Sooyoung’s statement and looked up through some hair that had fallen into her face.

 

    “Do you not want to brainstorm a little more?”

 

    Sooyoung smiled at the way Haseul’s eyebrows pinched together when she was confused. She just wanted to do whatever Haseul wanted to do.

 

    “No, I think your idea is perfect,” Sooyoung said.

    “Okay,” Haseul said, tucking her hair back behind her ear. “Who should we take pictures of?”

 

    Sooyoung had to very seriously resist the urge to say “you.”

 

    “Hmm,” Sooyoung hummed, tapping a finger against her nose. “We should find someone comfortable in front of a camera. Maybe we can enlist someone in the theatre department?”

 

    “Do you know anyone in the theatre department?” Haseul asked.

 

    Sooyoung pressed her lips together and shook her head. She hardly had friends outside of Jungeun.

 

    “I mean we could probably do it with anyone,” Sooyoung said after a moment. “I did some modeling as a teenager, I could probably coach them on how to sit properly.”

 

    “You modeled?” Haseul asked, sitting up straight.

 

    “I did a few shoots for a glasses company when I was like 16, but they were only for a national campaign.”

 

    Haseul stared at Sooyoung for a moment before breaking out into a laugh.

 

    “‘Only a national campaign’ she says,” Haseul said between laughs. “You’re a professional, we should just use you!”

 

    “M-me? Nooo no no no,” Sooyoung protested, waving a hand between them. “I don’t need to be back in front of a camera.”

 

    “Why not? You’re gorgeous, I’m sure it would be way more interesting than any of the other submissions.”

 

    Sooyoung stared down at her notebook with wide eyes. Haseul had just very casually complimented her appearance as if it was nothing, and now Sooyoung was afraid she would never be able to look her in the eye again. She heard Haseul close her notebook and tuck it away in her bag.

 

   “Hey, I just remembered I have to talk to my professor before his office hours are over so I gotta jet, but I think we’re all set, right? Do you want to meet up tomorrow to start taking photos?”

 

   Sooyoung could only nod slowly, still looking down at her notebook.

 

   “Great! I’ll text you later to figure out the time. Bye, Sooyoung!”

 

   Sooyoung waved meekly and ran her fingers through her hair. This was going to be harder than she thought.

 

   


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> panic and awkwardness and ~tension

   

    Jungeun fell back and hung her head over the edge of the bed. She idly scrolled through her phone while Sooyoung paced back and forth across her bedroom.

 

    “You’re making me dizzy,” Jungeun said without taking her eyes away from her phone.

 

    “I can’t help it,” Sooyoung said. “I’m freaking out about this project. Also, maybe if you weren’t letting all the blood rush to your head you wouldn’t get dizzy so easily.”

 

    Jungeun groaned as she hoisted herself to a seated position and leaned against the wall instead. Sooyoung bit at her fingernails, a gross habit she picked up from her mother. She couldn’t stop thinking about Haseul sitting across from her with her perfect hair and perfect teeth and perfect hands just acting as if everything she did wasn’t a ploy to make Sooyoung suffer.

 

    “What is it about Haseul that makes you so nervous?” Junguen asked. “If you’d just talk to her like a normal person, you’d see she’s just like everybody else.”

 

    “No, Haseul is different,” Sooyoung said. “There’s just something about her that I can’t put into words. She’s so confident and nice to everyone and effortlessly beautiful. It’s unreal.”

 

    “I guess,” Jungeun said as she rolled her eyes. “She’s no Vivi, though.”

 

    “Nah,” Sooyoung said, shaking a hand at Jungeun. “Vivi’s cute, but she’s not Haseul cute.”

 

    Jungeun launched herself off the bed and grabbed Sooyoung by the shoulders to stop her from pacing and pay attention to her.

 

    “Vivi is a goddess among mere mortals,” Jungeun said, dramatically waving her hand in the air. “She’s ethereal. She’s leagues above all of us. And she’s got a nice butt.”

 

    Sooyoung pushed Jungeun’s arm and rolled her eyes. Jungeun was a complete ham, but Sooyoung loved her all the more for it. They had only been friends for a few months, but Sooyoung considered her to be one of her best friends. She was only person who knew about her infatuation with Haseul.

 

    “So why haven’t you put the moves on Vivi yet?” Sooyoung asked. “You’ve never had a problem talking to cute girls.”

 

    “I’m waiting for the right moment. It’s gotta be perfect, just like she is.”

 

    “Uh-huh,” Sooyoung mumbled as she pulled her phone out of her pocket.

 

    She looked through her notifications until she reached a message sent 16 minutes prior from Haseul.

 

     _ **Haseul:**_ _hey! i reserved some time after class tomorrow in the studio so we can work on the project. do you know what you’re going to wear yet? i want to make sure we have the right equipment checked out._

 

    “Fuuuuuck,” Sooyoung groaned as she sat on her bed.

 

    “What’s wrong?” Jungeun asked.

 

    “I let it slip that I used to do modeling in high school so now Haseul wants to make me the subject of this project and now she’s asking me what I’m going to wear and I’m--”

 

    Sooyoung groaned as she fell back onto the sheets and covered her face with her hands.

 

    “Wait, she suggested making you the subject?”

 

    Sooyoung nodded as she dragged her hands down her face, pulling the sides of her mouth down in frustration.

 

    “Dude,” Jungeun said. “She’s into you.”

 

    “I knew you were going to say that.”

 

    “It’s true! She’s basically given herself an excuse to stare at you for hours and she obviously thinks your face is worthy of submitting for an assignment. It’s so obvious.”

 

    “I don’t know, man. As much as I want to believe it, I just don’t think so.”

 

**

 

    Class was dismissed and before Sooyoung could put away her things, Haseul was right beside her. She didn’t say anything, but Sooyoung could see the familiar beat up checkered Vans and the small tattoo of a bird on her ankle. She took her time putting her things away, trying to buy time to prepare herself to look at her.

 

    “Can I carry anything for you?” Haseul asked.

 

    “N-no, that’s okay,” Sooyoung stuttered. “Sorry, I just didn’t realize we were so close to the end of class.”

 

    “No worries!” Haseul said as she rocked back and forth on her heels.

 

    Sooyoung stood up from her chair and finally looked over Haseul. She was wearing a black t-shirt half-tucked into denim shorts and an absolutely dazzling smile on her face. Sooyoung quickly looked down at her shoes and put a hand in her pocket to avoid staring.

 

    “After you,” she said with a wave.

 

    Haseul skipped ahead out of the classroom and into the hallway while Sooyoung trailed behind and tried to take deep breaths. The photography studio was just down the hall, but it felt like years had gone by before they got there. Haseul held the door open to a completely dark room, but the lights flickered on as soon as Sooyoung entered the space. There was a long white curtain hanging from a rod attached to the ceiling and running along the floor. There was a lone stool on top of the part that was on the floor, and two softboxes on either side.

 

    “Did you want to head to the bathroom or anything before we start?” Haseul asked. “I have to set up the camera, so you have some time.”

 

    “Uh, sure,” Sooyoung said as she dropped her backpack on the floor. “I’ll be right back.”

 

    Sooyoung darted out of the room and across the hall to the bathroom. She stepped in front of one of the sinks and gripped the sides as she stared at herself in the mirror. She looked terrified.

 

    “Get it together, you weirdo,” she whispered to herself. “She’s just a regular girl.”

 

    Sooyoung knew no matter how many times she said that to herself, she wouldn’t believe it to be true. She straightened up, looked her reflection in the eye and took one long, deep breath. If she could just get through this and get the work done, she could probably get out of it without having to hang out with her ever again. Editing doesn’t need to be done together, after all. She nodded firmly and made her way back to the studio.

 

    “Perfect timing,” Haseul said as the door clicked open. “I just finished setting up the tripod.”

 

    Sooyoung smiled weakly and started to walk toward the stool, but hesitated at seeing Haseul look at her with slight embarrassment.  
  


    “But, uh…” Haseul said as she rubbed at the back of her neck. “I’m still not too good at figuring out the settings. I’ve just been making Vivi do it for me. Do you know how?”

 

    Sooyoung felt herself relax a bit at seeing a shy Haseul. She was actually very confident in that aspect of photography.She nodded and stepped up to adjust the camera to the correct lens settings. She could feel Haseul’s eyes watching as she worked, but for once she didn’t feel panicked. She turned to Haseul, who indeed was watching very closely, and asked,

 

    “Would you like me to teach you?”

 

    “Oh, Vivi’s tried but I just can’t seem to get it.”

 

    “It’s really easy. The shutter speed is the most obvious…”

 

    Sooyoung went into a full speech, teaching Haseul about the difference between F-stops, shutter speed, and ISO, and how they work together to create the image you want. She took several photos of empty space to demonstrate how different settings affect the photo and what would be ideal for soft individual portraits as opposed to bright family portraits. Haseul nodded along and smiled increasingly wider the more Sooyoung talked, but she barely noticed in her tangent.

 

    Haseul laughed softly at a dumb joke Sooyoung made, and she felt her ears perk up at the sound. She lost her train of thought, and no matter how hard she tried to get back on track, the sound kept replaying in her head and soon it was all she could think about. She tapered off sort of abruptly, ending with her head down and her hands in her pockets once more. She was right back where she started, only this time she felt like she had made a fool of herself.

 

    “You’re cute,” Haseul said with a laugh.

 

    Sooyoung just barely raised her head to look at Haseul, looking for any hint of sarcasm, but she found none. Haseul was holding her hands behind her back and smiling fondly at her.

 

    “Sorry,” Sooyoung said, shifting her weight on her heels. “I got kind of carried away.”

 

    “No, it’s totally fine. I think I actually understand it now.”

 

    Sooyoung raised her head fully and grinned, trying her hardest not to blush. Haseul pushed her hair back and looked around for a moment.

 

    “We should probably get started,” she said gently.

 

    Sooyoung nodded and took her place on the stool. Haseul adjusted the camera height and took a few test photos to adjust the softboxes accordingly.

 

    “Okay, so I think we should probably get a few photos with each lighting adjustment so so that we have options. Does that sound okay?” Haseul asked.

 

    “Yeah,” Sooyoung nodded. “Should I pose differently for each shot?”

 

    “Do whatever makes you feel comfortable,” Haseul said with a shrug. “I’ll just make sure the camera keeps up with you.”

 

    Sooyoung nodded and adjusted her posture to the way she was taught. Shoulders back, neck high, stomach in, eyes open. Once she felt she was ready, she looked at Haseul and nodded. Haseul stared back for a moment, her lips slightly parted, before she shook her head slightly and bent down to put her eye to the viewfinder.

 

    “Do you want, like, a countdown?” Haseul asked from behind the camera.

 

    “No one does countdowns in the modeling industry,” Sooyoung said playfully. “They just take photos and shout things like ‘yas’ and ‘beautiful, darling’ and ‘gooooood, good just like that’.”

 

    “Do they actually?” Haseul poked her head up with a furrowed brow.

 

    “No,” Sooyoung said with a laugh. “I mean… sometimes.”

 

    Haseul squinted in disbelief and nodded before returning to the viewfinder.

 

    “Okay, here we go.”

 

    Haseul’s photo-taking wasn’t nearly as aggressive as what Sooyoung was used to. She took several photos, and Sooyoung adjusted to different poses every few flashes. Haseul adjusted the lighting quickly and silently, and she never really looked at Sooyoung unless it was through the viewfinder. Sooyoung was too focused on holding her head the right way and trying to remember everything she learned as a teenager to notice the silence. Somewhere between lighting adjustments and when Sooyoung’s jaw had just started to hurt, Haseul paused for longer than usual.

 

    “Can we take a break?” Haseul asked. “Do you need a break?”

 

    “S-sure,” Sooyoung stuttered.

 

    She was honestly grateful for a break, but Haseul seemed troubled. She took such a long drag from her water bottle, she had to gasp for air. Sooyoung only sipped from her own, watching Haseul carefully.

 

    “The pictures are coming out great,” Haseul said before taking another long drag. “The camera really loves you. I can see why you were a model.”

 

    “Thanks,” Sooyoung smirked at the compliment.

 

    Haseul stared at nothing in particular and nodded. She still looked like she was going through something traumatic.

 

    “Are you okay?” Sooyoung asked.

 

    “Mhm,” Haseul nodded aggressively and took another sip of water. “I”m fine. Totally fine. Shall we continue?”

 

    Sooyoung narrowed her eyes at Haseul, but she returned to her seat nonetheless. They went back to working in silence, the only sound in the room coming from the shutter of the camera and the flash from the lights. Eventually, Haseul moved the light to the complete opposite end of where it had started.

 

    “Last set,” she said plainly.

 

    With a few more flashes, Haseul straightened her back and stretched her arms above her head. Sooyoung relaxed her shoulders and rubbed at her aching jaw. She had been more tense than usual for the second half.

 

    “Would you like to see them?” Haseul asked.

 

    Sooyoung nodded and stepped off the stool and behind the camera. Haseul stretched behind her as she clicked through, inspecting each photo for only a few seconds before moving on. Surprisingly, Sooyoung didn’t find anything wrong with any of the photos. Sooyoung was typically very critical of photos of herself, but these were different. There was something about them that just felt totally unlike other photographers she had met.

 

    “These are amazing,” Sooyoung whispered.

 

    “I had a good subject,” Haseul said matter-of-factly.

 

    “No, but these are next-level, Haseul.”

 

    “I’m telling you, Sooyoung. It’s all you. I did nothing but push some buttons.”

 

    Sooyoung turned to argue, but Haseul looked at her very seriously.

 

    “You’re fucking stunning.”

 

    Sooyoung felt her face heating up and she felt the compulsion to run away, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of Haseul. The tension between them was more intense than she thought possible. She felt herself gravitating forward, and she watched as Haseul’s eyes fell to her lips. Her heart was racing at a thousand beats per second and she swore she could hear Haseul’s too. She inched forward ever so slowly, until a pounding at the door startled both of them out of the moment.

 

    “Hey, time’s up! Room’s ours now!” A voice called from outside.

 

    Haseul cursed under her breath and started to pack up the lights. Sooyoung helped with the camera and grabbed both their things before heading out the door. The couple that had manipulated their way into being in a group together were standing outside looking annoyed, but Sooyoung pushed past and headed toward the photo equipment room. She dropped off the camera and put down Haseul’s bag as she stepped in herself.

 

    “Sorry,” Haseul said. “I didn’t notice the time.”

 

    “It’s okay,” Sooyoung replied without looking at her. “Let me know what else I can do for the project.”

 

    She hurried out of the room before Haseul could get in another word. She pulled out her phone and started typing a message to Jungeun.

  
     _ **Sooyoung:**_ _fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> twitter: @breadjiin  
> curiouscat: breadjiin

**Author's Note:**

> twitter: @breadjiin  
> curiouscat: breadjiin


End file.
